Retractable line appliance



1945- J. o. JOHNSTON RETRACTABLE LINE APIPLIANCE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMay 3', 1944 INVENTOR clwv ,0- Jvmvsram ATTORNEY Aug. 28, 1945. ,1.- o.JOHNSTON RETRACTABLE LINE APPLIANCE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Filed May 3, 1944 Ill- o R M 0 \0 A N t- I l Patented Aug. 28, 1945OFFIC RETRACTABLE LINE APPLIANCE John oaeii. .Iohnstom-Irvington, NJ.Application May 3,1944, Se'rialNo. 533,965

a claims. (or. 211-119.

This invention relates to a line appliance adapted for use by housewivesin the hanging of clothes, and for similar uses.

It is customary to string clotheslines between a pole, located at somedistance from the house proper, to a point adjacent the outside of thewindow casing, the clothesline beingpassed around pulleys located at thepoints mentioned; It is thus necessary for the user to lean partly outof the window casing for access to the clothesline, a procedure which isat once dangerous and awkward.

It is the object of myinvention to provide a clothesline appliancewhereby the user may at tach clothes to the line or remove the-sametherefrom while remaining within the comfort an'dsecurity of the insideof the house.

A further object of my invention is'to provide a device of thischaracter which isadaptedto be fixed at one position in substantiallythe plane and axis of the clothesline proper for use of the clothesline,and is adapted to be fixed in another position at substantially rightangles thereto when theclothesline is not to be used. In the latterposition, the appliance is out of the way and does not in any mannerinterfere with-theopening and closing of the windows of thecasingthrough which the line'passes in' the use of the device.

A further object of the-invention is to provide a device of thischaracter which is adapted-to bemanufactured at low cost, and consistsof few and simple parts, which are positive in operation, simple inconstruction andv durable in use.

These and other advantageous objects, which will later appear, areaccomplished by the simple and practical construction and arrangement ofparts hereinafter described, and; exhibited-in the accompanyingdrawings, forming part hereof, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of one form of theinvention in its operative position,

Fig. 2 is a view on a similar plane of the device in its inoperativeposition,

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig.2 in the direction of the arrows,

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on line. l4 of Fig.1 in the direction of I the arrows,

Fig. 5 is a, fragmentary elevational view of another form of theinvention, taken on lines 5-5 of Fig. 6, in the direction of thearrows," and disc I8, theofiset 7 the cover' platev 22, arrangedapertures" member M, the latter being secured to asuitabl'e support, orto a bracket [5' which, inturn, is'secured to'the support such as thecasing C, by means of screws f6 orthelike'. The device is thus rotatablydisposed onthe base, for a purpose presently explained; A stud llisffixedby' ring [3, or by welding orsimil'ar meansto the'bracket IE orother support and protrudes therefrom at right angles thereto. A discmember I8 is positioned on the head H, and adisc member I9, providedwith centrally arranged ofi'set boss 20' adapted to abut the disc memberlli ispositioned on the latter; The disc members I8*and l9 are providedwith oppositely flared peripheral por tions which definea rope guidechannel 29 for a purpose presently more fully explained. A spring 2| isseated within the ofise't portion 20' of the disc l9, the otherendiofthe spring bearing against a cover platej2fl2 welded or otherwisesecured to the latch member. 3 0. .The' variousparts described, namely,the tapered. portion" M "of j the base, the. tapered portion. 12 ofthehead H, the

are providedwith centrally to receive the stud member l7{, the crosssectional diameter of" the spring 21 being ample to' freely receive saidstud member.

To hold thev parts in predetermined positionon" the base f4, and forthe'operation of the device the manner more particularly set forthherein'after, a Iatchmember 30" is provided, said latch member having aIever'3l by which it may be conveniently rotated and being internallythreaded' at 32 for engagement with the externally threaded'end'33 ofthe stud' i1.

The opposite end of the bar a bracket portion 34 in which the axle 35 ofthe pulley 36 is journalled. The bracket IE on which the device ismounted as above set forth is secured to the outer face of window casingC in alignment with the window opening 0, (see Fig. 2) In order to usethe device for hanging clothes or for taking in a clothesline, the bar[0 is rotated to a position in which it projects inwardly through thewindow opening 0 in the horizontal plane and axis of the clotheslineproper (Fig. 1). In this position, the clothesline L passes from theremote pulley at the clothesline pole (not shown) through the windowcasing, tangentially through portion 211 of the disc I59. and" I0 isprovided with other portion of the the line are around'the pulley 36 and1n the one the channel 29, around the pulley 35, and at a tangentiallydiametrically opposed point through the channel 29 and back to the polepulley. As the pulley 36 is well inside of the house, the person usingthe line is in a convenient and safe position at all times in using thedevice. To latch the bar in this position, it is merely necessary torotate the lever 3| of the latch 30 to thread the same on stud llwhereby the various parts will be clamped between-the 'cover plate-22and base H, the tapered portion 12 of the head ll having complementaryfrictional engagement with the tapered portion of the base H for thispurpose. The parts are left in that position until the user I hasfinished using the line, at which time it is merely necessary to rotatethe lever in the opposite direction to release the parts and the bar Imay be moved downwardly at right angles to its previously describedposition, through the window opening 0 and outside the house in avertical plane as shown in Fig. 2. Before dropping the bar ID to thispositio'n,the line is lifted out of its lower tangent position in thechannel 29 and is positioned at the upper tangent position in thechannel so that bothportions of the line are around the pulley and inthe upper tangent position in the channel 29, as shown in Fig. 2. Thereis thus provided the iulcrumeffect of a weighted end 31 which willeffectively tend to resist movement thereof through opening 0 ofthewindow casing until such time as it is desired to manually do so forthe purpose of using the line. In the construction shown in Figs. and 6the axis A of the stud H is disposed in avertical planeisee Fig. 5)instead of in the horizontal plane shown in Fig. 1 and the bracketmember (see Fig. 5) is disposed in a horizontal plane, with an angularlydisposed portion 38 which is adapted to' be secured adjacent the casingopening at the outside of the house. In this form of the invention thebar I'D- is moved inwardly in a horizontal plane for use of the device(full lines Fi 6) and moved outwardly, also in a horizontal plane, butat right angles to its position of use andinto a position across theopening 0 when it is notdesired to use the same (dotted lines Fig. 6).

In the construction shown in'Figs. 5 and e, the bracket 34 is disposedat right angles to the plane of the base 14, the bar In being twistedand offset as at 39, for'this purpose and to offset the bracket 34 sothat, as shown in Fig. 5, the rope L passes from the pole'pulley (notshown) tangentially through the channelZSL'around the pulley 36 anddownwardly out of the pulley and back to the pole pulley. When the userhas finished using the line, the return portion of the line passingdownwardly from the pulley 36 is lifted and positioned at the tangentposition in'the channel 29 adjacent the rope, so that both portions oftangent position in the channel 29 shown in dotted portion of Fig. 6.The latching of the structure of Figs. 5 and 6 is like that described inconnection with the structure of Figs. land 2. Like parts arecorrespondingly numbered in the several figures of the drawings, for thesake of a more facile understanding of the invention.

While I have particularly described my invention as used in connectionwith clotheslines, it is equally applicable to any other application foruse in connection with ropes, cables or the like wherein the structuredescribed may be used to advantage. The parts described may be made ofany desired or convenient metal, alloy or plastic.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is: 1. In a retractable line appliance, abracket, a stud fixed to said bracket, a disc positioned on said stud, asecond disc member positioned on said stud and provided with a centrallyarranged ofiset boss adapted to abut the first mentioned disc member,said disc members being provided with oppositelyfiared peripheralportions which define a rope guide channel, a spring seated within saidofiset portion of the disc member, a latch member, a lever on said latchmember, said latch member and said stud having complementary engagingmeans to latch the parts when the latch member is rotated in onedirection and to release said parts when it is rotated in the oppositedirection.

2. In a retractable line appliance, a bracket, a

stud fixed to said bracket, discs positioned on said stud provided withoppositely flared peripheral portions and one disc having an ofisetportionwhich defines a rope guide channel, a latch member, a cover platesecured thereto, an a spring seated intermediate the disc members andcover plate, said latch member and said stud having complementaryengaging means to latch the parts when the latch member is rotated inone direction and to release said parts when it is rotated in theopposite direction.

3. In a retractable line appliance, a bracket, a stud fixed to saidbracket, discs positioned on said stud and provided with oppositelyflared eripheral portions and one disc having an offset portion whichdefines a rope guide channel, a latch member and cover plate on saidstud, a spring seated intermediate the disc members an cover plate, abar in said appliance rotatably mounted at one end on said stud, and apulley rotatably journalled on the opposite end of said bar, said latchmember and stud having means to latch the bar against rotation on thestud.

